Always
by fanofdenial
Summary: Before placing the Resurrection Stone in the snitch as Dumbledore requested, Snape uses it to have a final conversation with the one person he truly loved.


**I was inspired to write this after watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2** _ **again.**_ **I was so moved by both the scene where Harry uses the Resurrection Stone and by Snape's memories (best scene in the entire film series) and I was inspired by the two to create this one shot. Hope you enjoy it, thanks for reading !**

 **~Creds to JK Rowling**

Snape sat staring apprehensively at the stone on his desk. Upon Albus Dumbledore's urging, he had rid the ring of the traces of dark magic that remained after Albus had done God knows what to it that had cursed him leaving his hand black and withered. Albus had left him strange, specific instructions to remove the stone from the ring and to hide it in a snitch that he had provided; a snitch with the words, " _I open at the close,"_ magically engraved upon it. After some musing, Snape's clever mind had formulated a theory-this must be the legendary Resurrection Stone, one of the Deathly Hallows. If the stories held true, Snape knew exactly who this stone would revive. He wanted with all his heart to use it, to see her again, but he was also terrified. Terrified of what she would say, and of the fresh pain that the encounter would cause. Burning, torcherous pain that would wash over him, leaving him gasping as it did when he was alone, when he awoke from dreaming about the one person he had loved with all his heart, the one person that he could not have.

The temptation eventually grew too strong however, and he picked up the stone and with great trepidation, turned it thrice in his hand. Just like that, she appeared before him. Ghostly pale, she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. Though death had leeched the emerald green sparkle from her eyes and the fiery redness from her hair, he could still see it in his mind's eye, and thanks to the stone, could now see her soft face, now colourless yet ever-kind eyes, and gentle smile, now directed at him.

"Severus," she said softly.

"Lily!" He choked out.

She reached out a hand to clasp his arm. They both looked down, he with longing, she with a quiet sadness as her transparent hand went again and again through his living arm as she tried to hold it.

His voice raspy with grief, he spoke. "Lily, I-I have for a long time-I will until I die-I..."

"Shh, it's okay." She soothed him. "Severus, I thank you. You have sacrificed so much, I will be forever indebted to you for what you have done for Harry."

"For you!" He interjected loudly, suddenly agitated. "All for you!" Then, "Lily, why? Why not me, why him?

"Severus, I always cared for you, incredibly deeply. You were my best friend. The one who was there for me from the beginning, who showed me what I was, who introduced me to the world that became my home. But we wanted different things, believed in different ideologies. You went off to your dark magic, and I...went to James."

"So it was my fault," Snape spat savagely. "If I hadn't followed the Dark Lord-"

"He might never have been possible to defeat." Lily urged. "Do not mourn for the past, or for what could have happened. Live in today. _Live,_ for those who cannot. And _love_ deeply. Oh Severus, do not forget to love!"

Snape sat for a moment, gazing at the love of his life, trying to find the courage to ask what he had always so craved to know, but was terrified of learning an answer which he did not want to hear. Finally, he whispered the words,

"Did you ever love me?"

Lily looked at him with an ancient sadness, one that pierced Snape's withered heart. Her eyes glistening with tears that she could not shed, she whispered back, "Always."

Snape sat for one more moment, drinking in the sight of her, before doing what that single word of affirmation gave him the strength to do-flipping the stone over, sending her back to her final resting place, moving on.

He sat in his office for a long while after, saying his own private goodbye. He knew now that he could no longer dwell on things that could never be. The knowledge that she had loved him would have to be enough, though it wasn't in the way he wanted. He could no longer expend anymore energy on it. After all, he had a dearly beloved friend's son to protect.


End file.
